Essential Albania – 2022/2023

Day 1: Arrival Tirana

Arrival at “Mother Teresa” airport and  transfer to your hotel in Tirana. Time permitting you will have a walking tour to the ex-residential block of communist party leaders. Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight at your hotel.

Day 2: Full day Tirana

After breakfast sightseeing tour of Tirana imcludes the highlights of the city such as the clock tower, the Mosque of Et’hem Bej, the National Historical Museum and the Bunk’Art 2, the former anti-nuclear bunker of the Ministry of Internal Affairs followed by an excursion to mount Dajti by cable car enjoying the panoramic view of Tirana and lowland area. In afternoon return back to downtown Tirana to visit the ”Bektashi Tekke”, (the World Head-Quarters of Muslim Bektashi Sect) and the Arts Gallery. Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight at your hotel.

Day 3: Tirana, Kruja, Apolonia, Vlora (220 km)

After breakfast drive to Kruja, home of Albania’s national hero, Scanderbeg, who in the 15th century successfully fought off the Turks for over thirty years. Visit the Old Castle, the impressive Scanderbeg Museum, the fascinating ethnographic museum and the Turkish-style old bazaar.  where you will find a wonderful selection of souvenirs.  After lunch  at a local restaurant in Durres beach, continue your drive  to Pojan where you will visit the  Archaeological Site of Apollonia. (This ancient site was an important port along the route between Rome and Byzantium. Emperor Augustus studied there, and Aristotle mentioned the town in his books on politics). Proceed to the coastal city of Vlora for dinner and overnight at your hotel. Vlora is legendary in Albanian history as the city where Albanian independence from Turks was proclaimed on November 28, 1912.

Day 4: Vlora to Saranda  (130 km) 

After visiting the Independence house  drive southward to Saranda through Llogara Pass (1000 m over sea level), and along the Albanian Riviera, enjoying the spectacular views of mountains and the fantastic landscapes of Ionian Coastline.  Lunch at a local restaurant. En route visit the fortress of Ali Pasha of Ioanina at Porto Palermo bay. In afternoon visit the ruins of the synagogue in Saranda. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.  

Day 5: Saranda, Butrinti, Gjirokastra (10)0 km

After breakfast drive south to visit the Ancient City of Butrint (UNESCO World Heritage), Albania’s most important archaeological site.

Butrint dates from the 7th century BC, becoming later on a Roman colony. Then it fell under the sway of the Venetians and Turks. Virgil claimed that the Trojans settled Butrint, but no evidence of this has yet been found. Within a century after   Greeks arrived, Butrint had become a fortified trading city with its own acropolis, the ruins of which we can still visit. The rediscovered city is a microcosm of almost 3,000 years of Mediterranean history.  The 6th century BC fortification of Butrint evokes the city’s military power, and its 3rd century BC  amphitheatre symbolizes the rich culture of the once thriving ancient city.

Lunch at a local restaurant at Ksamil Bay. In afternoon drive to Gjirokastra, (UNESCO World Heritage) the birthplace of former iron-fisted dictator of Albania, Enver Hoxha.  En-route visit the Blue Eye springs. Gjirokastra is a strikingly picturesque town, perched on the side of a mountain above the Drino River. In the centre of town is the Memedheu ABC Monument, commemorating the Renaissance of Albanian education around the turn of the 20th Century

After a short stroll around the town, where many of the buildings retain their original wood and stone work visit the Ethnographic museum. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Day 6: Gjirokastra to Berat (160 km)

At morning visit pre-Ottoman citadel with the armaments museum and former political prison then drive to Berat.  Lunch at a local restaurant. Afternoon sightseeing of the city includes visits to the leaden Mosque, the King’s Mosque, the Bachelor’s Mosque and the Alveti Tekke, a smaller shrine where the Dervishes once practised.  Dinner and overnight  at your hotel.

Day 7: Berat to Durres (110 km)

This morning visit the ethnographic museum and the Citadel, built on the top of a rocky hill in Berat. Within this CCitadel you will visit the Church of St. Mary of Vllaherna (13th C), which has 16^th century mural paintings by Onufri,  Albania’s most famous medieval painter and his son Nicola. Lunch at a local restaurant inside the citadel. In afternoon drive to Durres where you will visit the Roman time Amphitheater (one of the biggest in Balkans) and Archaeological museum. Dinner and overnight at your hotel at Durres beach.

Day 8: Durres to Airport for departure (40 km)

Transfer to airport for departure.

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